Tropics spring to life: Pali forms in Pacific; Atlantic system could develop

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

January 7,2016; 7:30PM,EST

 

 

A storm with some tropical characteristics will continue to track northeast of the Bahamas and across Bermuda prior to the end of the week. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Pali has formed in the central Pacific.
The system has a chance at gathering the name Alex, or the first tropical system of 2016.

According to AccuWeather Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski, a rapidly developing storm will sweep northeastward over the western Atlantic Ocean, near Bermuda into the weekend.
"The storm will grab tropical moisture and will produce gales, in addition to heavy rain and building seas as it moves along," Kottlowski said.
NOAA/Satellite
Steering winds will take the storm away from the United States and Canada this weekend.
The storm will thoroughly drench Bermuda into early Friday.
The heaviest rain and strongest winds will occur north of the storm center, which will pass near Bermuda on Friday morning.
"Waters are not warm enough to support rapid tropical development," Kottlowski said. "But the system has the look of a hybrid storm."
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Tropical storms have formed in January or have carried over from December in the Atlantic.
"In 2006, Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the middle of the Atlantic on Dec. 30, 2005, and maintained tropical storm strength into early January 2006," Kottlowski said.
In 1978, Subtropical Storm One formed on Jan. 18., over the central Atlantic and dissipated before reaching the Caribbean. The earliest tropical storm to form in January was Storm One on Jan. 3, 1938.
In absence of an official tropical storm, the system will bring brief tropical storm conditions as it moves swiftly northeastward off the East coast of the United States.
"Waters are running warmer than average off the Southeast and mid-Atlantic coasts, and this will help to fuel this storm's spunk and could enhance other systems should they venture over the area during the next few weeks," Kottlowski said.
Tropical Storm Pali forms 1,500 miles from Hawaii
Elsewhere, in the tropics, a depression formed over the central Pacific during Thursday morning, local time.
During Thursday midday, the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Pali. The storm was located about 1,500 miles to the southwest of Hawaii as of Thursday and is not expected to directly impact the islands.
Image of Pali taken Tues., Jan. 7, 2016. (NOAA/Satellite)
This is the earliest on record that a tropical storm has formed in the central Pacific basin.
"Unusually warm waters in both the Atlantic and the central Pacific are likely contributing to the development of tropical systems during the middle of the winter," Kottlowski said.